


Cat's Play

by katikat



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Coda, Gen, Obsession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 21:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12944172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: Foolish, foolish little mouse. Or, how did Murdoc know so much about what made Mac tick in episode 204. Based on episode 207. Jack’s POV. (Unbeta'd)





	Cat's Play

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to use the description “foolish little mouse” for Mac ever since David Dastmalchian - the actor playing Murdoc - used it to describe MacGyver in his Twitter [[x]](http://thehemingwaygoldfish.tumblr.com/post/168141897477/source-is-there-a-better-murdoc-than-david).

They skid and slide down the hallways of the Phoenix Foundation headquarters, MacGyver and Jack, running at full speed while everyone’s jumping out of their way with startled yelps. They’re late. They’re so late!

“Matty’s gonna have our asses for breakfast!” Jack mutters as he slips through a barely open sliding door.

“Well, I  _told_ you not to take that shortcut!” Mac points out, voice annoyed.

Jack glares at him over his shoulder. “Really? ‘I told you so?’ That’s what you’re going with?” he grumbles in disbelief.

Before Mac can do more than give him a pointed look, they finally arrive at their destination, the conference room, and barge in, breathless and a little sweaty.

“Sorry, Matty,” Mac gasps as he comes to a halt. “We got caught in traffic.”

She frowns at them sternly while Riley, Bozer and Cage snicker quietly in the background, but instead of tearing them a new one, as is her wont, Matty just waves her hand. “Well, you’re here now. I’ll settle for small miracles.”

As she turns towards the wall of screens at the front of the room, Mac and Jack exchange a startled glance. No yelling? Something must be seriously off.

Matty walks up to the touch screen and taps on it, unfolding a large photo. “I think you all remember Carl Wiessler, the disgraced BND operative who now sits in prison, thanks to Mr. Bozer here.” She points at Bozer who puffs out his chest in pride.

“Now, there’s been a development. Apparently, Mr. Wiessler finally grasped the seriousness of his situation because he offered us a deal: information in exchange for a chance at getting out of prison before he dies in there of old age.”

Mac crosses his arms over his chest and frowns. “That must be some helluva information if you’re even considering taking that deal.”

Matty looks at him and there’s something uncomfortable about her demeanor. “It is. He offered us all the info he has got on his original employer.”

“Original?” Jack asks, raising his eyebrows.

“Yes,” Matty answers and nods. “As it turns out,  _originally_ , he was sent in for one specific file only, for intel on one specific agent. Only later,  _after_ he completed his mission, did Wiessler come up with his plan how to monetize his access to our spy school database.”

“Who was that agent?” Bozer asks. “His first target?”

Matty turns back to the wall and sends a copy of a file sliding across the screens. And everyone freezes.

“That’s  _mine_ ,” Mac whispers, straightening sharply. “That’s  _my file,_  Matty.”

“I know,” Matty responds but her voice’s not sharp or cutting, it sounds almost subdued.

Jack has a really,  _really_  bad feeling that he knows where this is headed. “And Wiessler’s client?” he asks, already clenching his jaw, anger bubbling up inside him.

Another photo slides across the screens and unfolds.  _Murdoc’s_.

“Jesus,” Bozer breathes.

They all glance at Mac who’s staring at the screens with a blank face but blazing eyes. Jack can see how tense his shoulders have become, how he’s clenching his fists so tightly his knuckles are turning white.

“But why would he need Mac’s file?” Riley asks, then she adds in disgust, “Besides the obvious fetishism of a stalker, that is. I mean, he knows who Mac is. He even knows where he  _lives_ and  _works_. So why go to all that trouble?”

“Because there’s  _everything_ in those files,” Cage responds. “Psych evals, medical evals, intel gathered during security clearances… you name it, it’s in there.”

“That’s why he knew so much about me when he kidnapped me,” Mac states harshly. “He knew exactly what buttons to push. How to get me angry. How to  _manipulate_ me.”

Jack takes a step closer and pats Mac on the back. He can feel him quivering under his hand.

“We will get him, Mac,” Matty promises, looking at Mac firmly. “If Wiessler can give us  _anything_ that’ll lead us to Murdoc, he’ll get his deal. I already contacted his lawyer and asked the prison director to put Wiessler into solitary, away from other prisoners, just to keep him safe.”

Mac nods. With his eyes still on the large photo of a smirking Murdoc on the screens, he says, “We need to talk to Wiessler.”

“Yes,” Matty agrees. “Take Cage and Bozer with you. Agent Cage is a skilled interrogator - if Wiessler knows anything, she’ll get it out of him - and Mr. Bozer’s the only one who actually talked to the guy in person. He could be useful. Now go!”

As the others file out, Jack pats Mac on the back again to make him finally tear his eyes away from Murdoc’s visage. And as he then leads his friend out of the room, his eyes meet Matty’s for a moment. Her look says it all.  _Watch out for him._ Jack only nods.

* * *

The moment they arrive at the prison, they realize that something’s wrong. The building resembles nothing less than a kicked-over beehive. When they introduce themselves and explain why they’re there, the uniformed man behind the desk gives them a nervous look and asks them to wait.

After a moment, the prison director himself arrives, looking anxious and more than a little sweaty. “You’re here for Mr. Wiessler? Mr. Carl Wiessler?” he asks.

Jack narrows his eyes at the man. “Yes.”

The director clears his throat. “Uh, you see, there was an incident…”

* * *

They’re led through the gray and harshly lit prison hallways, towards the solitary cells. At the end of one of the corridors, a door stands open and there’re prison guards clustered around it, staring inside in horrified shock.

As they come closer, with the director at the head of their small procession, the guards let them pass and quickly disappear. They stop just inside the doorway - and they can’t help but  _stare_ at the mess in the cell.

Carl Wiessler’s lying there in a pool of his own blood with his throat cut from ear to ear. But it’s not the body that draws everybody’s attention, it’s the writing on the wall, done in Wiessler’s own blood. Big red letters, dripping down the gray paintwork.

Bozer chokes and steps outside quickly and the director, who let them go in first before, takes his place now. Again, he clears his throat before saying, “We don’t know what the message means.”

_FOOLISH LITTLE MOUSE_ , reads the thing, painted on the opposite wall, clear for everyone to see.

“I do,” Mac replies in a hoarse voice.

The director looks at Mac, startled, but before he can ask, Jack speaks up, “It was Murdoc  _himself_ , wasn’t it? He just waltzed in here and killed the man and then, then he simply left.”

Mac just nods, eyes on the blood painted words, a message just for him.

“What does it mean?” Cage asks, glancing at Mac.

“That the cat’s not yet ready to play,” Mac responds, then he turns on his heel and marches out, jaw clenched tightly, hands balled into fists.

Jack rushes out after him and as he does it, he hears Cage asks the director for surveillance videos. He sees Bozer try and stop their friend, but Mac just walks past him quickly, down the corridor, towards the exit. Jack waves at Bozer and follows.

He finds Mac outside, in the hot afternoon sun, leaning against the wall with his hands. His head’s bent and he’s breathing harshly as if he just ran a marathon. Jack walks up to him slowly but before he can say anything, Mac turns his head towards him. His eyes are burning bright.

“He did it again, Jack,” Mac snaps harshly. “He slipped out again. He’s gone, who knows where. He can be watching us right now, for all we know! He–!” He cuts himself off abruptly, then he whips around and leans against the wall with his back, hiding his face in his hands.

“We  _will_ get him, man,” Jack promises. His voice’s quiet and earnest. He truly means it, it’s not just empty platitudes. They will get Murdoc.  _He_ will get Murdoc, if it’s the last thing he does in his life. Because being forced to watch the psycho turn Mac’s life inside out is tearing Jack apart.

Mac drops his hands and looks at him. There’s so much desolation in his face that it makes Jack’s heart hurt. “How?” he asks in despair.

“I don’t know,” Jack admits, though he doesn’t like it a bit. But he would never lie to his friend, not about something like this. “I don’t know but we will. We won’t rest until we get him. I swear.” Then he reaches out and squeezes Mac’s shoulder in reassurance, pouring everything he has into that comforting gesture.

Mac stares at him for a long, long moment, then Jack feels him relax -  _slump_ , really - and sees him nod. “Alright,” Mac says in a soft voice. “Alright. Let’s go back, then. Maybe we’ll find some lead,” he says and pushes himself off the building.

Jack smiles a little and nods, leading Mac back in.

* * *

Neither man notices the dark clad figure watching them through military grade binoculars from a safe distance away, lips quirked up in a smirk. 

_Foolish, foolish little mouse._


End file.
